Every year, the typical North American car emits close to five tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.
On average, the US consumes seventeen million barrels of oil per day.
Driving consumes 43% of those barrels of oil.
Over the past twenty years, the length of the average American worker's commute has increased 40%, the number of miles driven has increased over 50% and time spent in traffic has increased 225%.
According to the Federal Department of Energy, more than 50% of the working population in the US lives within five miles of their place of work.
Although more than 60% of all trips made by car are five miles or less, fewer than 1% of these trips are made by bicycle instead of by car.
Although 25% of all short trips by car are one mile or less, 75% of these trips are made by car instead of on foot or by bicycle.
A four mile round trip made by bicycle instead of by car prevents fifteen pounds of air pollution.
Over the course of a year, a daily seven mile commute by bicycle instead of by car prevents the emission of almost 9 pounds of hydrocarbons, more than 66 pounds of carbon monoxide, 4.4 pounds of oxides of nitrogen and 1300 pounds of carbon dioxide.
If just one of ten commuters who now drive to work switched to bicycling instead, the savings would amount to two billion gallons of gas per year and a 25.4 million ton reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
Eight bicycles can be parked in the space required for just one car.
Traffic jams in the 29 major US cities cost commuters an estimated $24.3 billion every year.
The typical American family spends $8000 per year to own and operate a car, including the cost of car payments, gas, oil, maintenance, repairs, licenses, parking and insurance.
The cost of operating a car is 94 cents per mile. The cost of operating a bicycle is 13 cents per mile.
When the total cost of fuel, vehicle maintenance, and time spent sitting in traffic is calculated, bicycling instead of driving a car is worth between $8.20 and $48.40 an hour.
